I am looking at a couple of flats in Almondsbury both have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Almondsbury. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Almondsbury. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Almondsbury where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Almondsbury conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

We expect to complete the sale of our £175000 garden flat in Almondsbury in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Almondsbury?

Almondsbury conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Almondsbury what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Almondsbury. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Virgin Money, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Almondsbury Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Please inform me if there are any major works on the horizon that will likely increase the maintenance fees? You should want to discover as much as you can concerning the company managing the building as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical matters like the cleanliness of the common parts. You should not be afraid to ask other tenants if they are happy with their management. Finally, find out the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the relevant party and specifically how they are spending the funds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Almondsbury